“Well, you know I’m here to help. So if you, either of you, need
to talk, come find me, okay?”
A fierce look filled his face. “I’ll take care of her, Mom. I
promise. And, God willing, she’ll agree to marry me. She has to
know how much I love her.”
“I know you will,” she said solemnly. “Now, get some
rest.”
He licked his lips and nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I love you,
Mom.” Dakota stood and kissed her on the cheek before going
to his room.
Alone in the kitchen, she ran a tired hand over her eyes.
“A grandmother, damn.” With weary steps, she went to her
room and climbed into bed.
Noise woke her up in the morning. Grumbling, Tempest
rolled out of bed and stomped to the door. She was exhausted
and wanted more than three hours of sleep. Some days she
could operate on less sleep, but this…this wasn’t one of those
days.
Yanking her bedroom door open, she recognized Dakota
and Shelia yelling at each other in the living room. And so it
begins. Tempest rubbed her hand over her eyes and walked up
the hallway to stop in the living room’s entrance.
“Can anyone explain to me why I’ve been awakened
after three measly hours of sleep?” Tempest snapped.
Shelia spun to face her, shame and sorrow written all
over her face. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Ms. Burnell. So sorry; I’m
leaving right now.”
“The hell you are!” Dakota thundered. “We aren’t done
with this conversation!”
Shelia wiped her hand furiously across her tear-streaked
face. “I think we are.”
Tempest fought down the urge to intervene. Her son
stood toe to toe with the woman he loved and who carried his
baby. Her fingers touched her lips as she stared at them. Their
words ceased to have any meaning to her, but their expressions
drew her into a world where she wished she’d been years ago.
Dakota threw his hands up to the sky and shook his head.
When Shelia backed away from him, he scowled a familiar
scowl. Without missing a beat, he stepped closer, tossed Shelia
over his shoulder, and marched to his bedroom.
Tempest still stood in the same place after he slammed
his door. Her son had such passion in him and Shelia’s
matched his stride for stride.
It would work out. Tempest was certain of it. But this
was not her fight and she wouldn’t interfere. With difficulty,
she returned to her room instead of heading for her son’s that
contained furious shouting.
Crawling back into bed, Tempest closed her eyes and
waited impatiently for the sandman to stop by and dust her
eyes. Soon and thankfully she was back in a world of her
creation. This was the only place she allowed James Chayton
Lonetree be the man in her life. The only man. Her husband.
Her lover. Her friend.
Dakota and Shelia were gone when she awoke later.
Mitchell was outside weeding her rock path that wove around
her fruit trees. After she showered, dressed, and got something
to drink, Tempest picked up her phone and dialed a number.
“Hello?”
Tempest swallowed. “Hi, Xaria. It’s me, Tempest.”
“Hey, Tempest. How are you?” A short pause. “Is
everything okay?”
“I’m fine. I was just wondering if you could tell James to
call me when they get back?”
A chuckle reached her. “James? Absolutely. I love how
you are like the only one who calls him that, aside from
Aidrian’s sister. Did you leave a message on his phone?”
Tempest swirled the ice in her glass around. “No. I
didn’t.”
“Is everything okay? You sound a bit tense,” Xaria
noted.
“I’m good. Just a bit of a rough night. Well, I’m sure you
are busy and I have some things to get done as well. Thank you
so much for giving him the message for me.”
“Tempest, you do know I’m here if you want to talk,
right?”
“Thank you, Xaria. I won’t forget that.” Tempest hung
up and set the phone down on the table.
Twenty-Six
Maverick lit a cigarette as the phone rang and rang. He’d
wanted to call her the second they returned, and that feeling
only intensified when Xaria had delivered a message from
Tempest. She wanted him to call her. That made him nervous.
“I didn’t even know she and Xaria talked to each other.”
Before he’d left the base, Hondo had smiled and
reminded him that all the women liked Tempest. Maverick
knew what those words meant. He was seriously fucked if he
ever hurt her.
He frowned as he got her cell phone’s voice mail.
Snuffing out the barely smoked cigarette, he called her house. It
was answered on the first ring.
“Burnell residence.” Her velvety voice stretched out
across the country and caressed him like a lover.
“Good morning, mitawin.”
“James,” she said on a sigh that sent his body into
overdrive with wanting her. “I take it you got my message.
How are you?”
He walked outside to stand on his balcony. The late
summer day was almost perfect. If only there weren’t a country
between him and the woman on the other end of the phone.
“James?” she asked again. “Are you still there?”
He smiled like a fool. “I’m here, baby.” He’d been
daydreaming about her so often, hearing her voice sent him off
again. “Why didn’t you leave a message on my phone?” His
brows furrowed. “When did you meet the girls?”
“The girls?”
“All the wives.”
She laughed and his heart sped up. “Xaria came out to
meet me and stayed for a while. I guess it was two times ago
that you were gone. I called her because I didn’t know what I
could do if you were gone.”
“Baby, you can always call and leave me a message.
Always.”
“Okay. I…I just didn’t know.”
Her voice told him something was wrong. His eyes
narrowed and one hand curled into a fist. “What’s going on,
Tempest? What’s happening out there? Is it Mitchell?”
“No! No. Actually, we get along fairly well.”
“He’s still there?” He couldn’t mask his amazement.
“Yes. He’s out in the backyard. Building something or
another.”
“And you’re okay with it?”
“A lot more than I’d ever thought I would be.”
He went inside. “Then what’s wrong? I can hear it in
your voice, Tempest. There is something worrying you. Is it
Dakota?” Her silence gave him his answer. His stomach
heaved. “What’s wrong with him?”
“Physically, nothing. But I think he could use a fatherson
kind of chat.”
Maverick poured himself some water. “Tempest,” he
growled, despising not knowing. “What is going on?”
“He and Shelia—”
“Oh, no,” he broke in. “Did they break up?” He knew
how muc
h Dakota loved her.
“No. They’re going to be parents. You’re going to be a
grandfather.”
Oh, shit! Maverick almost dropped the phone. “A
grandfather?” He wiped sweaty palms off on his jeans. “Are
you sure?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m sure. Look, I don’t know what to tell him.
He knows I’m behind them both and that I’m not disappointed
in them, but it’s not working. I think he needs to talk to you.”
Maverick sat down at his breakfast bar. “Do you really
think that would be for the best, Tempest, considering I didn’t
even do remotely the right thing with you?”
“Yes. Yes I do.”
Her response came without the slightest hesitation and
Maverick felt another wave of love for her flow through him.
“I don’t want to overstep—”
“Shut up, James. You are his father. And he needs one
right now.”
“You know I love you, right, Tempest?” he asked.
“Call your son, James,” she said softly before hanging
up.
Maverick sat there for a while and just stared at nothing.
A baby. His son was going to be a daddy. He was going to be a
grandfather.
That was the bundle of pink Tempest had been holding
in his dream. So then all that remained was the woman he
loved beside him.
Grabbing up the phone, Maverick placed another call.
The voice on the other end made him smile. “Hello, son,” he
said.
_
Tempest smiled as she served drinks. She loved her job.
Loved her patrons and her employees. But something was
missing.
And deep in her heart she knew what it was
James.
“You okay, hon?” Sparky asked from across the bar.
“You look a little lost in thought.”
“I’m good, Sparky. Just a bit off, I think.”
“Why don’t you quit pretending and go get that
handsome man who seems to taking up all your thoughts.” He
squeezed her arm. “You need to tell him the truth so y’all can
get married.”
She chuckled even as the truth rang in her ears. “What
truth is that?”
“That you love him. You’ve never stopped loving him,
and you want to spend the rest of your life at his side.”
“You know he’s only speaking the truth,” Mili’s sultry
voice popped in.
Tempest glared at her. “You too? What is this, Pick on
Tempest Day?”
“No,” Mili retorted, “it’s Get Stubborn Tempest to See
the Truth and Let Maverick Know Before It’s Too Late Day.”
Let him know. Tempest’s heart skipped a few beats. Did
she know? And if she did, how did she know? Tempest wasn’t
fully accepting it herself yet.
“Let him know what?” she demanded.
Mili arched a perfect brow at her. “You can’t be
seriously asking me that.”
She swallowed down the bile that seemed to be
overwhelming her. It was like Mili suspected. “Apparently, I
am asking, Mili. What are you talking about?”
Mili sent her a glare. “Don’t play stupid with me.”
With a huff, Tempest dictated, “We’ll talk about this
later. Right now, I’m sure there’s something you should be
doing.”
If Mili were hurt or offended by Tempest’s words, it
never showed. She just shook her head, smiled, and got back to
work with surprising ease.
“That was uncalled for, darling,” Sparky reproached.
Tempest ground her teeth. She didn’t want a lecture. She
didn’t want to feel crappy. She just wanted Maverick to tell her
he wanted to marry her.
Blinking back tears, she agreed, “I know. I’ll apologize
later. I don’t know what’s come over me lately.”
Sparky raised a brow but remained blissfully silent,
opting to take a drink instead.
The second there was a lull in the bar, Tempest headed
for her office, content that Mili and the others could handle it.
Shutting the door behind her, she sank into her chair and
covered her face with her hands. She took deep breaths and
tried to control her out of racing heartbeat. It wasn’t working.
The phone rang and she was both pleased and disgruntled at
the intrusion.
“B’s Quarry,” she said.
“When are you coming to be where you belong?”
The deep voice sent shivers throughout her body. James
Lonetree was the only man with that much power in his
timbre.
“Hello, James,” she said, immediately feeling better.
“Enough, Tempest. I want you here with me. You know
I love you; why are you doing this to us?”
If you only knew. “I have a life here, James. You do realize
that, don’t you?”
“You are my life, Tempest.” He took a deep breath. “Do
you want me to quit and come to you? If that’s what it’ll take,
then that’s what I’ll do.”
She blinked back tears. God she loved this man. “You
love your job, James.”
“I love you more, mitawin.”
A short gasp left her as she heard him say those words.
Looking up, she whimpered as her gaze took in the darkbronzed
man who stood in her office.
He was there. She’d never heard him come in, never
even heard the door open.
“James?” she whispered.
“Damn, I’ve missed you.” He dropped his phone and
hauled her into his arms.
She moaned in ecstasy as his mouth covered hers. This
His tongue swept deeply into her willing mouth. She
arched against him, purring as his hands gripped her ass and
pulled her in closer. His erection pressed against her belly and
she felt the moisture dripping between her legs.
She wanted him.
“James,” she panted, tugging up his shirt.
“I love you, Tempest. Tell me you know that.”
She reached up and touched his face. “Yes. I know you
do. I love you too.”
“Don’t ever stop telling me that.” Lifting her into his
arms, he walked them over to the couch, where he laid them
out. It wasn’t long before his thick length was sliding home into
her heat.
When they finally found their breath and were once
again dressed and curled up on the couch, Tempest asked.
“What are you doing here?”
“I don’t want to be away from you anymore. So, I’m
here to humble myself. I’ll quit the Teams if you want and
move here, whatever it takes for us to be together. I know it
was presumptuous of me to expect you to pick up and move
for me, so I’m here, I’m telling you I will happily move to
where you are.”
She laid her head against his chest, easily breathing in
the subtle yet definitely masculine scent that constantly
surrounded him. “I can’t ask you to give up what you love.”
His lips caressed her forehead. “Then tell me you’ll
marry me. You’re whom I love. I want to be with you. If that
means leaving the Teams, then I will.�
�� One strong move and
she was seated on his lap. “Will you marry me?”
Her mouth moved, but nothing came out. The phone
began ringing and she looked between it and the man who held
her.
“Get the phone, baby. I’ll be right here.” He smacked her
on the ass as she climbed off his muscular thighs.
She answered the call and then was soon pulled back
into the busy night at her establishment. Maverick didn’t try to
stop her, just followed her out there and sat at the bar, keeping
an eye on her.
He went home with her afterward and had a brief
reunion with both Dakota and Mitchell. Still, Tempest always
felt his eyes on her, watching her wherever she went.
When it was just the two of them in her bedroom, he
knelt on the floor beside her as she sat at the foot of her bed.
“Tempest. I have to go back. My ride is leaving in another two
hours.”
Her heart wept; she didn’t want him to go. “Can I have a
week? To think about everything?”
“One week, of course.” He smiled and she saw the
sadness in it.
“I just have to figure it all out. You understand, right?”
He laid his head in her lap. Tempest dragged her fingers
through his dark hair. She sniffed and wiped away the tears
that threatened. “Please tell me you understand.”
“I do, baby, I just don’t want to wait any longer than I
have to.”
“I love you, James.”
“I love you, too, mitawin. I love you too.”
He moved her back up on the bed and made love to her
one more time. Slowly, tenderly, and thoroughly. He was gone
when she woke up. There was just a small note left on her
pillow.
One week, baby.
One week and I’ll come get you if I don’t hear from you.
Take care of yourself.
I love you.
~Maverick
She smiled at the thought of him coming to get her.
Tempest rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom. There
was a lot for her to do today.
Over lunch, she had a long discussion with Dakota. She
took Mitchell to the airport and got him safely on a plane to go
back home. Then she called Mili and asked for a meeting. After
that appointment, she stopped off and spoke to Shelia’s family
and then proceeded onto her dinner date with Burl. Over the
meal, she explained about the situation between Maverick and
her to him. Ever the gentleman, Burl took it well, although she
could see the hurt in his eyes.